


Marcus and Susan

by just_ann_now



Category: Swordspoint Series - Ellen Kushner
Genre: Courtship, Gen, new years resolutions 2012
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-28 16:09:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/309653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_ann_now/pseuds/just_ann_now
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of course Marcus Ffoliot was much more than a jumped- up Riverside guttersnipe. But he had to convince Susan and her family of this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Marcus and Susan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheWrongKindOfPC](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWrongKindOfPC/gifts).



> A continuation of "Ffoliot", because I didn't have an opportunity to get it all polished up nicely in time for the Yuletide deadline. Thank you so much for writing ["Growing Pains](http://archiveofourown.org/works/281612), which got me thinking hard about Marcus and Susan. Many thanks also to Edoraslass and Manyfacesofme22 for their painstaking beta assistance!

Marcus Ffoliot did come to call again, and then again. Once he happened to run into Susan and her mother at Feldman’s Bookshop and offered to help carry their parcels home, and was invited to stay to supper. Each time they met Susan found his company more enjoyable. He, in turn, seemed to fit comfortably with her family, even her rambunctious younger brothers, teaching them to play intriguing variations of Jacob's Ladder and jackstones.

What _was_ odd was how Susan's mother seemed to be a bit preoccupied after each of his visits. She was still courteous, of course; her upbringing was impeccable, and over the years she had perfected the social skills necessary to complement her husband's success. But lately there was an abstracted frown to her face whenever Marcus Ffoliot was mentioned.

One morning Susan decided it was time to speak. After her father had cheerily bid them goodbye, Susan caught her mother by the hand.

" I'd like to talk to you, now that we're alone." She poured her mother another cup of chocolate, and then one for herself, stirring it slowly, as if drawing her thoughts together. "I can't help but notice that something seems to be bothering you. Something about Marcus Ffoliot. "

"He is a very pleasant young man." her mother began. "Very well mannered. 'Well-bred', one would almost say, if one didn't...." She waggled her hands nervously. "I'm doing this all wrong, I think. I never imagined having such a conversation with my daughter! Your father, gods love him, is a wonderful man, good hearted, but in many ways, very naive."

"Mother," Susan said firmly, "I don't think this conversation is going to be about Father. Why don't you just say what you're thinking, and we'll sort it out from there?"

Her mother took a deep breath. "It's just that, well, though there's not been a breath of scandal about Katherine Talbert _since_ she became the Duchess, the events surrounding her, what do they call it, ascension? appointment? were odd, to say the least, what with the Mad Duke disappearing so abruptly from the City. But I doubt you ever heard anything about that - "

"Oh, Mother," Susan smiled. "How could you imagine I'd not heard of it? Everyone was talking about it." She tried to make her face look serious. "We weren't supposed to know, but we all did, about Lady Katherine, and the wearing men's clothes, and the swordfighting - "

"It's ridiculous, the way the nobles carry on," her mother said. "Such a bad example to the rest of the City. But Lord and Lady Godwin _did_ take her up immediately once she became Duchess. If Lord Godwin approves of Katherine, Duchess Tremontaine, then, surely, there's no question that her household is entirely acceptable as well." Susan felt herself relax, just a bit; she hadn't been sure of where this conversation was going, but perhaps now it wouldn't be going there after all.

"However...." her mother took a deep breath. "There is the matter of Riverside." _Oh, dear_ , Susan thought.

"It's a wild, wicked place, always has been. The things that go on there are positively shocking! I'll not go in to detail." Susan wondered exactly how much detail her mother wasn't going in to, and how she had discovered all that detail, but held her tongue as her mother continued.

"Marcus Ffoliot -" she glanced at her daughter, then sighed. "Marcus Ffoliot was a Riverside boy, a -" she lowered her voice, "a bastard, who was taken in by The Mad Duke. He was sort of a, I don't know, jumped-up footman, valet, personal assistant, all manner of things. He was always with him, whether the Duke was at Riverside House or up on the Hill at Tremontaine House."

Susan patted her mother's hand. "Don't worry; he has told me about his growing up in the Duke's household. I think, once you know him better, you'll find that there's not so much to be worried about."

"He made have told you some, but I hardly believe he's told you everything - how could he? That would be most inappropriate."

Susan had had enough. "I don't really _know_ if he's courting me or not! But if you and father have objections, perhaps you should let me know. So I can discourage him, if that is your wish, but I'd rather you be honest with me about your concerns, so that I can make a decision for myself. That is how you and father raised me, isn't it? To listen, to think, to draw conclusions, and take action as appropriate? Isn't this exactly the kind of situation you were preparing me for?"

"Oh, how did I get such a forthright child! You know we just want the best for you." Her mother seemed both exasperated and proud. "I just want you to be aware of what you're getting in to here. His world may not be like anything you're used to."

 

~*~

"A picnic, in the Tremontaine garden. Just you, and me, and Katie. The Duchess."

"The Duchess? I, I - "

Marcus took her hand. "She wants to meet you, she's heard so much about you, but - " he looked away, suddenly shy, "I also told her I'd like to have some time to talk to you, alone. So she offered to help. You don't mind, do you? Will your parents be bothered by it, a private picnic? I suppose we are _implying_ that the Duchess will be there to chaperone..."

Susan laughed, suddenly giddy. "They won't be too bothered. I'll see to that."

~*~

In the days leading up to the picnic, Susan thought about her mother's words. She hadn't been completely honest with her mother, she realized; Marcus had hardly told her everything. But, she trusted: she trusted in Marcus, that he would continue to confide in her, and and she trusted her own instincts. No matter what he revealed, it would not, could not change her feelings for him.

On the day of the picnic, her father surprised her by mentioning that he had an appointment with Marcus and the Duchess at Tremontaine House that morning. "Oh, my," her mother fluttered, for all the world as if she had been invited herself. "That's very unusual, isn't it? I can't think of how many nobles have actually taken the time to meet with you. You don't think she's displeased with anything, is she? It would be - but wouldn't she have cancelled the picnic if - ?"

But Susan's father laughed. "I have no reason to believe Tremontaine is displeased with us, for any reason. Don't fret so! Everything is going to be just fine." He bent to kiss his wife goodbye, and as he did so, he winked at Susan, to her utter amazement. What?

~*~

The picnic was a delight. The Duchess Tremontaine wasn't that much older than Susan, really, and had lived all her life in the country before her uncle the Mad Duke had summoned her to the City, much to her family's chagrin. There was still a lot of the country girl in her, the one who loved climbing apple trees and had given names to all the lambs and hated mending more than anything.

The three of them sat on the ground, on an elaborate and probably very expensive rug. A pair of footmen poured their wine, served cold spiced prawns and cheese pastries and fruit salad, stepped back discreetly after each course. When they were done, the Duchess stood up and said, "I really must go take a look at those hellebores, the gardener says they're being overrun by the trilliums," leaving Marcus and Susan alone.

They wandered the twisting paths through the garden, pretending to admire the statuary, chatting about everything and nothing. They finally settled on a bench in the lilac arbor. The air was heavy with the droning of bees and rich with the perfume of the flowers.

"Do you like her? Katie, the Duchess, I mean? She's my closest friend, as well as my employer, but I wanted to make sure you could feel comfortable with her, too."

"She's lovely," Susan replied. "I never imagined, I suppose I knew she was about my age, but she's so natural! Not that there would anything _unnatural_ about her, of course, " she was quick to add. "When she started telling the story about the sow pushing her brother into the duck pond I thought I would - well, it's just not the kind of thing you imagine the Duchess Tremontaine ever talking about."

"Natural, yes," Marcus agreed. "She would like being called that. She was just Katie Talbert, living out in the country, dreaming about the City, and then - I remember when she first came, she was so prickly! She didn't know how to act, and, well, she imagined she _should_ be acting in a certain way, and then when she found out what the Duke had in mind for her - it wasn't easy for her. And then to become Duchess so unexpectedly! But we learned to manage, the two of us, we muddled along, and somehow I think we've finally started to get it right."

He took Susan's hand in his. "There is something I wanted to talk to you about, Susan. I spoke to your father this morning, and I'm sure by now you can guess what it is." She nodded, feeling a warm glow of happiness beginning to rise inside her. "I - oh, I don't know how to do this! Growing up in Riverside House was mad," he continued. "Endless parties at all hours, things getting thrown and broken, having to chuck people out the door in the middle of the night because they were being rude. The Duke was generous, and kind in his way, and the other servants there were wonderful, but,as much as I loved the Duke, as much as I love Katherine, I envied the other servants, going home each evening, to families and children and, I don't know, reading, or telling stories by the fire or whatever it was that normal people did." He took a deep breath. "I want that kind of life, a normal life. Do you understand?"

Susan did understand; all the things she had taken for granted growing up, her parents, her brothers, what she had always thought of as the banality of her life, now suddenly seen through his eyes as something precious, desirable. She had a sudden, swift vision: she and Marcus, surrounded by laughing children, and the light in his eyes as he surveyed his family. _Yes_.

"I would like to have that kind of a life with you, if you'll have me." His voice was soft. "But there's one more thing I need to tell you about, Susan, from when I was a child. It might cause you to, to reconsider having anything at all to do with me."

"It was before I met the Duke, before he took me in. I'm sure you've heard that I'm a bastard. " Susan nodded. "I don't mind people knowing, well, I do, but you couldn't be anywhere near the Duke's household and think people weren't going to talk. Katie even asked once if I was his son, but I'm not. I don't know who my father was. My mother was - " he swallowed, "a Riverside whore." He shuddered at Susan's surprised gasp. She had never heard the word spoken so frankly before. _This honesty is his gift to me_ , Susan told herself. _I will show him I'm worthy of it._.

"She was kind to me, what I remember of her. But she died, and the man she left me with - " he closed his eyes. Susan squeezed his hands. "He was not a good man. He had me do things, not just stealing, but worse things. I know I shouldn't be speaking of this to such a well-bred young lady as you, but I don't want there to be any secrets between us.

"The Duke bought me. He bought me from Jacko, fair and square. But he never touched me, never hurt me or frightened me. He gave me a home, a safe home, and made sure I never had to do any of those things ever again, boy or man. He's done so much for people in Riverside, not just for me; money for orphanages and children's homes and pensions for old, sick people.  
Most people, especially up here, don't understand about the Duke, how generous he could be, how he has really changed people's lives."

Susan closed her eyes and began to breathe, slowly and deeply. _This is what my mother was warning me about._ , she thought. _Something terrible from his past. Even Mother could not have imagined -_. But then she stopped thinking about her mother, her father, her family and friends; she thought of a small skinny boy with huge brown eyes, and how terrified and confused he must have been. And how a generous man who had always been called Mad had rescued that boy, given him a home and a future. In that moment she knew that she wanted more than anything to be part of that future.

She could feel Marcus's gaze on her. "Susan, I'll understand if you don't ever want me to come near you again, but I couldn't bear not to be honest with you. Have I frightened you away?"

Susan opened her eyes and smiled, seeing his own eyes widen, and his smile turn bright as the sun. "No, I'm not frightened." she said. "I'm not frightened at all."


End file.
